Theoretical Hydrokinetic Power Potential Assessment of the U-Tapao River Basin Using GIS
by
Fida Ali 1, Chatchawin Srisuwan 2, Kuaanan Techato 3,*, Adul Bennui 4, Tanita Suepa 5 and Damrongrit Niammuad 5
Fida Ali 1, Chatchawin Srisuwan 2, Kuaanan Techato 3,*, Adul Bennui 4, Tanita Suepa 5 and Damrongrit Niammuad 5
1
Department of Sustainable Energy Management, Faculty of Environment Management, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai, Songkhla 90110, Thailand
2
Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai, Songkhla 90110, Thailand
3
Environmental Assessment and Technology for Hazardous Waste Management, Faculty of Environmental Management, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai, Songkhla 90110, Thailand
4
Southern Regional Center of Geo-Informatics and Space Technology, Faculty of Environmental Management, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai, Songkhla 90110, Thailand
5
Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (GISTDA), Bangkok 10210, Thailand
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Energies 2020, 13(7), 1749; https://doi.org/10.3390/en13071749
Received: 17 February 2020 / Revised: 11 March 2020 / Accepted: 27 March 2020 / Published: 6 April 2020
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Hydrokinetic Energy Conversion: Technology, Research, and Outlook)
Conventional hydropower technologies such as dams have been criticized due to their negative environmental effects which have necessitated the development of new technologies for sustainable development of hydropower energy. Hydrokinetic (HK) energy is one such emerging renewable energy technology and, in this study, a theoretical potential assessment was done using a Geographic Information System (GIS) and Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) hydrological model, for the U-Tapao river basin (URB), a major tributary of the Songkhla lake basin (SLB) in southern Thailand. The SWAT was calibrated and validated with SWAT calibration and uncertainty (SWAT-CUP)-SUFI 2 programs using the observed discharge data from the gauging stations within the watershed. The model performance was evaluated based on the Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) and the coefficient of determination (R2) values, achieving 0.62 and 0.60, respectively, for calibration, and 0.65 and 0.68 for validation which is considered acceptable and can be used to represent flow estimation. The theoretical HK potential was estimated to be 71.9 MW along the 77.18 km U-Tapao river, which could be developed as a renewable and reliable energy source for the communities living around the river. The method developed could also be applied to river systems around the world for resource and time efficient HK potential assessments.
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Keywords:
riverine hydrokinetic; small hydropower; geographic information system; soil and water assessment tool
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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
MDPI and ACS Style
Ali, F.; Srisuwan, C.; Techato, K.; Bennui, A.; Suepa, T.; Niammuad, D. Theoretical Hydrokinetic Power Potential Assessment of the U-Tapao River Basin Using GIS. Energies 2020, 13, 1749.
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